'The Voice' Recap: The Battle Rounds Begin

NBC

On The Voice, the blind auditions wrapped up last week, and now it’s time for the real drama to begin. The battle rounds began on Monday night, pitting two members of a team against each other to sing together onstage, with only one moving on.

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However, a new twist for season three – “The Steal” – allows coaches Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton another opportunity to save a contestant they like.

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When a battle round is over, a coach can decide to “steal” the contestant from another coaches’ team that was not chosen, therefore adding that singer to their own team.

Monday’s episode also featured a visit from this year’s mentors, who help the coaches with their contestants. Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong, who recently checked into rehab, was among those to appear on the show.

Team Blake’s Casey Muessigmann vs.Terry McDermott
Shelton calls both these contestants “powerful singers with great pitch, which is why he paired them up. After they perform "Carry On, Wayward Son," Shelton goes with Terry.
 
Team Adam’s Bryan Keith vs. Collin McLoughlin
Mary J. Blige is helping Levine mentor his team this season. Levine chooses Sublime’s “Santeria” for the contestants to sing. He ends up choosing to keep Bryan on this team. But Collin receives another chance when both Green and Shelton push the steal button to save him. Collin gets to choose, and decides to go with Team Blake.

Team Cee Lo’s Diego Val vs. JR Aquino
After getting some advice from Matchbox Twenty’s Rob Thomas, the YouTube sensation JR and do-gooder Diego belt out “Jessie’s Girl.” Diego has more stage presence, and Green decides to keep him, saying that Diego has more room to go.

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Team Christina’s De’Borah vs. Nelly’s Echo
Billie Joe Armstrong appears as the mentor for 
Aguilera’s team. De’Borah, who was kicked out of her church group after she changed her look, and Nelly’s Echo, who left Nigeria to escape political unrest, sing “Message in a Bottle” for their battle round. Aguilera chooses to keep De’Borah.

Team Blake’s 2Steel Girls vs. Gracia Harrison
It was a major country smackdown when these contestants took on “Sin Wagon.” Gracia looked the part much more than the duo, and was more playful with the crowd. Shelton chooses to keep Gracia.

Team Cee Lo’s Amanda Brown vs. Trevin Hunte
In the best battle of the night, these two soul singer take on “Vision of Love.” The performance brings all the coaches to their feet for a standing ovation. They say they plan to steal the contestant the Green dismisses. Green goes with Trevin.

All three coaches hit their steal buttons for Amanda. While Aguilera promises to make her into a superstar, Levine compares her to some of the best female singers in the world (“Mariah, Christina, Aretha”). Amanda goes with Levine. "I'm a good thief," says Levine.

What did you think of the first night of the battle rounds? Sound off in the comments section below.